Meryl Streep has described in harrowing detail how she was once beaten by an unnamed attacker who struck her repeatedly while she played dead.

The Oscar-winning actress, 68, revealed details of the story on Wednesday night while speaking in a statement at the Committee to Protect Journalists' 27th annual International Press Freedom Awards in New York City.

Without saying when it took place or who was to blame, she said she was left no choice but to wait for the 'blows' to stop.

She also described another incident which involved her saving another woman who was being attacked by a 'thug'.

Again, without identifying the victim, she said Cher 'was there' and watched as she 'went nuts'.

Recalling the first attack, Streep said candidly: 'I was lucky because my instincts served me well.

In one instance, I played dead and waited until the blows stopped, watching. People say you do, from about 50ft above, as I was beaten.

'In the second instance, someone else was being abused and I just went completely nuts and went after this man.

'Ask Cher, she was there. The thug ran away, it was a miracle,' she said.

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Meryl Streep described in harrowing detail how she was once beaten and on another occasion saved a woman from an attacker as she gave a speech in New York on Wednesday night (above)

Streep and Cher worked together on the 1983 film Silkwood and have remained friends since.

They also recently wrapped filming Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again which will be released in 2018.

On Wednesday, Streep did not specify when either of the violent attacks took place but said both changed her 'on a cellular level'.

In the second instance, someone else was being abused and I just went completely nuts and went after this man ... ask Cher, she was there. The thug ran away, it was a miracle.

'The two times in my life when I was threatened and dealt with real physical violence, I learned something about life that I wouldn't have known otherwise,' Streep said.

'We (as women) come to it disadvantaged through the many millennia preceding our present moment and because of our vulnerability, we anticipate danger — we expect it.

'We're hyper alert to it. This comes in very handy in investigative journalism, but also in acting.'

Cher has not commented on her friend's remarks.

Streep and Cher starred together in the 1983 film Silkwood and have remained friends ever since. She did not say when the attack she described took place

Streep and Cher (above in 2003) have remained friends for decades

Her comments on Wednesday come after her insistence that a 1989 Time article which claimed she had been groped by Dustin Hoffman was inaccurate.

The Time magazine article quoted the actress recalling her first meeting with Hoffman, 80, when she auditioned for a play he directed years prior.

'He came up to me and said, "I'm Dustin—burp—Hoffman," and he put his hand on my breast. ''What an obnoxious pig', I thought,' it read.

It has gained new context given the fresh allegations of two separate women who say he sexually harassed them in the 80s and 90s.

On Monday, E! News contacted Streep's representatives about the article and they said it was not an 'accurate rendering of that meeting.'

She admitted that 'an offense' took place but that Hoffman apologized for it and she forgave him.